Tag Archives: Pax Christi Metro New York

Posted onJuly 1, 2015|Comments Off on REFLECTION: The witness of “Living Stones” in the Holy Land

by Rosemarie Pace
Pax Christi Metro New York coordinator

Seventy years ago, at the end of World War II, a French woman, Madame Dortel-Claudot, and a French Bishop, Pierre-Marie Theas, began a movement to pray for peace and reconciliation between their country and Germany. It disturbed them terribly that two supposedly Catholic Christian countries could have been at war with each other, killing each other’s people. Seventy years later, Pax Christi, the international Catholic peace movement, the outgrowth of that simple beginning, spreads across six continents and continues the work of prayer, study, and action for peace, justice, and reconciliation.

To celebrate these 70 years of peacemaking, Pax Christi International invited its members to a conference in Bethlehem from May 13th to the 17th, 2015. What more appropriate place for a movement that was founded on reconciliation to gather than a place that cries out for reconciliation today!

And taking advantage of the moment, 29 members and friends of Pax Christi USA not only accepted the invitation, but also became pilgrims for two weeks exploring the Holy Land largely walking in the footsteps of its Living Stones. The Living Stones Pilgrimage was organized by the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) and led by Bob Cooke of Pax Christi Metro DC/Baltimore. It focused not on the ancient remains of architecture and artifacts, but on the people who continue to breathe life into this region rich in history, religion, and culture. In particular, it enabled us to share in the joys and sorrows of Palestinians, mostly Christian but Muslim as well, who struggle to survive in a place that is occupied and severely oppressed. In this Kerux Live! I would like to introduce you to some of those remarkable, at times tragic, Living Stones with just a few highlights. To tell the full story would require a small book, which may yet come, but not now.

First there were the students of Bethlehem University who live within the confines of Israeli occupation but still insist there is no hatred. Hatred is useless, a waste of energy, they said. They believe that it is the will of the people on both sides (Israel and Palestine) to have peace, but not the will of those in power.

Then there was the Regional Director of the Bethlehem Museum of Culture and Heritage who told us about the struggle he and his wife are enduring to get their baby daughter a permanent Israeli ID like her mother, rather than a Palestinian ID like her father, because there are more advantages with an Israeli ID.

At the Aida Refugee Camp, the Living Stones were young boys probably between 10 and 12 years old. They were playing outside a community center when Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers decided to toss tear gas at them, we were told because they had wandered beyond the entrance to the Camp. No words, just an unprovoked assault that is part of the uncertainty of daily life in the Occupied Territories.

At Tent of Nations, a Palestinian family farm which Israel has been trying to confiscate for many years, we heard Daoud Nassar note that there are three ways to respond to the Israeli occupation: violence which only begets more violence, despair and inactivity, and evacuation. But he and his family reject all three, so they have adopted a fourth way—nonviolence—which they teach to visitors and volunteers.

In Hebron, again the Living Stones that stood out for me were children. At the Tomb of the Patriarchs, in the mosque on the Muslim side, one adorable little girl shyly approached me with great curiosity and a huge smile. I reached out my hand and said Salam. She delightedly gave me her hand and then ran to get a littler girl, probably her sister, to do the same. As heart-warming a moment as that was, the other was heart-wrenching. A little boy was trying to sell a Palestine bracelet to a fellow pilgrim. As she went to purchase the bracelet, an IDF soldier charged down a flight of stairs to shove the boy away and yell at him. We can only imagine how such abusive treatment affects this Living Stone.

Back in Bethlehem is Wi’Am Conflict Resolution Center. The founder and director is a Living Stone overflowing with knowledge and wisdom. Among the many striking things he said were these: They do not actually want resolution but transformation. Their interest is in restorative justice to help everyone live freely. There must be collective responsibility; win-win, not zero-sum. Trust is greater than fear. We need to embrace the truth. Hope is a form of nonviolent struggle, and there is cause for hope. We need to bring people to their senses, not to their knees.

Combatants for Peace are Living Stones from both sides of the Israel/Palestine divide, people who are veterans of either the IDF or Palestinian resistance. We met with a young woman IDF vet and a young Palestinian man who spent over 10 years in prison for violent assault on Israeli soldiers at the age of 14. He told us how he learned about Gandhi, Mandela, and nonviolence in jail, which he called “Restorative U,” and then co-founded Combatants for Peace. She told us how she learned about the Palestinian plight from working with Palestinians in Jerusalem after her military service. Together they shared the three principles of Combatants for Peace: 1) bi-national decision-making and leadership to promote activism for change, 2) belief in nonviolence, and 3) the end to Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Palestinian man recenty released after 20 years in prison at the Nakba commemoration event.

Two Living Stones we met were totally unplanned and unexpected. PCI held a Candlelight Vigil in Manger Square, Bethlehem to commemorate Nakba (Catastrophe) when Palestinians were expelled from their homes in the new state of Israel in 1948. Both men just happened by as we were praying, singing, and listening to testimonies. The first was teary-eyed as he thanked us for our presence and our support. The second man revealed that he was recently released from over 20 years in prison. He, too, thanked us and urgently appealed for peace and freedom.

Some of the most vibrant Living Stones live in Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salam/Oasis of Peace, a village founded by a priest nearly 50 years ago in Israel. It is totally bi-lingual, bi-cultural, and bi- (or tri-) faith. Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salam is a model of what the Holy Land could be where the children learn together, adults gather to learn from each other, and all people face the issues of the day with openness and a sincere desire to understand.

The Israeli Committee against Home Demolitions is another source of Living Stones. A vibrant young woman named Ruth reported on her work supporting Israeli Palestinians whose homes are subject to demolition for any of three reasons: punitive, administrative, or military. She also spoke of the challenge of Permanent Residency for Israeli Palestinians and the risk both Israeli Palestinians and Jews take should they protest.

Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann of Rabbis for Human Rights, “a zionist with a small z” as he described himself, offered his own solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict: a Federation similar to that of Belgium.

As delightful as the little girls were at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron were the members of the HCEF Senior Center at Birzeit, Palestine. As we shared lunch with them, chatted, and danced, we learned of their various families locally and in exile in the U.S. and other parts of the globe, the bittersweet emotions of separation, the longing for freedom, and the joy of community.

Even the shopkeepers proved to be Living Stones, offering hospitality each time we entered a store, offering us cool drinks and, sometimes, sweets.

Our last encounter with Living Stones on this pilgrimage was with three women from Musalaha, which means reconciliation, a very appropriate place to conclude a trip made possible by a peace movement founded on reconciliation. The women of Musalaha, mostly Jewish and Christian, work to address and de-escalate fear through listening to each other’s stories, exercising self-criticism, praying together, reaching out to others in need. As the Director said about their work: “If my theology doesn’t bless the other person, then there’s something wrong with my theology.”

Should you ever visit the Holy Land yourself, be sure to meet with the Living Stones there. If any of the Living Stones we met on this Pax Christi pilgrimage aroused further interest on your part, they can be found on the web. I encourage you to read more about them there.

Posted onJune 17, 2015|Comments Off on ON THE LINE: June 2015 edition features the work of PCUSA members and groups across the nation

Compiled by Johnny Zokovitch

Each month, “On The Line” features news items and announcements from around the nation featuring Pax Christi members, local groups, regions and partners.

ED. NOTE: My apologies for not getting out the May edition of On The Line last month. I was in the Middle East during the weeks I usually prepare and post this feature, and I simply didn’t have the time to pull it together in addition to my responsibilities on the Pax Christi International delegation. Thanks for your understanding!

PAX CHRISTI USA MOURNS THE LOSS OF SR ESTHER PINEDA, CSJ: Pax Christi USA was saddened to learn that Sr. Esther Pineda, CSJ, a member of the Pax Christi USA National Council, has died following a short illness. “Sr. Esther was a woman of great faith and was passionate when it came to issues concerning peace and justice. Her steady and gentle manner was a major contribution to Pax Christi USA,” stated Pax Christi USA Executive Director Sr. Patricia Chappell, SNDdeN. “I thank our good God for Sr. Esther and our world is a better place because of the compassion and tenderness which she shared with everyone whose lives she touched.” Read more at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/05/08/obituary-pax-christi-usa-saddened-by-the-death-of-sr-esther-pineda-csj-national-council-member/

Fr. Chris Ponnet of Pax Christi Los Angeles led a retreat for Maryknollers and Pax Christi members on peacemaking, nonviolence and stories of ministry in early June.

PAX CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL CO-PRESIDENT ADDRESSES WORLDWIDE FRANCISCANS: On 25 May, Pax Christi International Co-President Marie Dennis addressed the 2015 General Chapter of the Ordo Fratrum Minorum (Franciscans), in Assisi. In a challenging lecture, she spoke about the urgency of working towards human and economic relationships based on the Christian and Franciscan principles of peace and of universal sister- and brotherhood. She asked the assembly to consider which of the challenges she presented are most urgent. Her questions led to a reflection, first in the various Chapter groups, then later in the prayerful atmosphere which characterized the final session of the day – a contemplative reading of the Word of God. See the video at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/06/03/pax-christi-international-pax-christi-co-president-marie-dennis-addresses-franciscans-2015-general-chapter-in-assisi/

At the 2015 Pax Christi Texas Conference in San Antonio, Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez joined PC Texas members for a photo.

PC FLORIDA LEADER TO PRESENT AT WILD GOOSE FESTIVAL:Joseph “Pat” Mahon of Pax Christi Florida will be presenting a workshop entitled “Photography, Spirituality, and Peacemaking” at this year’s Wild Goose Festival in North Carolina, July 9-12. The description includes, “Contemplative photography (Zen Photography), connects us intimately with the screed which surrounds us. Connecting with creation and creating icons awakes us to the fact that, as Thomas Merton says, ‘We are already one.’ This awakened awareness is the foundation for peacemaking.” Read more at http://wildgoosefestival.org/festival-2015/speakers-2015/joseph-patrick-mahon/

BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFICUL: A REFLECTION FROM PC-MA ON THE MARATHON BOMBING TRIAL: (by Pat Ferrone, PC-MA coordinator) Armed only with banners advocating mercy, and signs decrying the death penalty, nonviolent peacemakers from Agape, Pax Christi, Veterans for Peace and elsewhere, regularly stand vigil in front of the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in Boston. In the early morning, a stream of employees, visitors, victims and lawyers pass before us, some with averted eyes or unreadable expressions, some clearly disdainful, like the man who muttered, “We should fry him – crisp as bacon.” Others, perhaps reflecting the general distaste for the death penalty in Massachusetts, pause to read the banners, or quietly voice appreciation and thanks for our witness. Reporters from the major news outlets are strategically stationed in view of the entryway, eager to capture the highlights of the day; on several occasions, interviews of vigil participants takes place, the reflections broadcast beyond our small witness… Read more at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/05/21/reflection-blessed-are-the-merciful/

Read a number of reflections and articles from various Pax Christi USA members who were on the delegation to Israel-Palestine last month … Authors for the 2015 Advent booklet were announced in April … PC Michigan’sSummer Newsletter is out and includes info on the new PCM Coordinator (congrats Mary Hanna!); Pax Christi at Campaign Nonviolence; our 34th Annual State Conference; Take ACTION for Immigrant Rights; and more … PC Long Island hosted a report on June 9 from an audience with Pope Francis on the climate crisis by Patrick Carolan of the Franciscan Action Network … Members of Pax Christi El Pasoprotest regularly against the death penalty in Texas … Stephen Oldham, a member of the recent Pax Christi delegation to the Middle East, had a letter published in The Washington Post on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict … PXI Co-President Marie Dennis and PCUSA member Sr. Mary Ann McGivern were quoted in a CNS article on the U.S. lack of political will to abolish nuclear weapons … Observe this year’s Romero and Merton anniversaries with resources from Pax Christi USA … Pax Christi Texas sponsored a screening of “White Like Me” based on the work of acclaimed anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise; the film explores race and racism in the U.S. through the lens of whiteness and white privilege … Pax Christi at St. Rose of Lima parish in Gaithersburg, MD hosted a gun violence exhibit as part of the Heeding God’s Call campaign … Pax Christi Western New Yorkspoke out against legislation to pre-empt New York State law and permit the concealed carrying of firearms by civilian non-residents … Pax Christi Beverly (MA) members and friends paid tribute to Sr. Julie Kane, SND on May 16 at St. Mary Convent for her spiritual work for peace and justice … Pax Christi International’sJune 2015 newsletter is online … See more local and regional updates in the Spring 2015 edition of The Peace Current …

PC ST. LOUIS HOSTS ANTI-RACISM TRAINING: (from Laura Kent) Thirty-five bold St. Louisans from many different neighborhoods and parishes gathered this past Saturday at the Catholic Student Center at Washington University to discuss how to address racism in the St. Louis Metropolitan area (which includes Ferguson). The workshop, “What will WE do? Anti-Racism Training and an Introduction to Organizing,” was moderated by Pax Christi’s Tom Cordaro and Cathy Woodson. Participants learned about the many forms of racism including Internalized Racist Superiority and Internalized Racist Oppression. They discussed misconceptions about what is and isn’t racism and the problem with the reticence of the white majority to address white privilege. Many personal stories and family anecdotes were shared and attendees were challenged to not let this new learning end with themselves. Read more at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/03/28/regional-event-pax-christi-st-louis-hosts-anti-racism-training/

Tom Cordaro presents the history of racism in the United States with a timeline posted on the wall to which all participants were invited to add important events.

PC PHOENIX-TEMPE EDUCATES ON IMMIGRATION, NONVIOLENCE: (from Dave Zabor) Pax Christi Phoenix-Tempe welcomed Fr. Sean Carroll, Director of the Kino Border Initiative (a binational organization that works in the area of migration and is located in Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico), for a presentation on migrants and the work that KBI is doing. Kino is doing wonderful humanitarian work and well as education, research, and advocacy on behalf of migrants. Attendees were moved by hearing stories of families struggling to survive, often tragically separated, and enduring the abuses of government officials and police on both sides of the border. Fr. Carroll took back to Nogales cash, clothing, and supplies donated by the group. That same weekend, the PC Phoenix-Tempe group continued its tradition of offering parishioners at St. Benedict Parish in Phoenix an opportunity to take the Pax Christi Vow of Nonviolence. This is the 4th consecutive year that the parish has offered the vow, and this time approximately 300 people participated.

PC LONG ISLAND HONORS PEACEMAKERS: (from Mary Beth Moore) More than sixty guests joined to honor The National Catholic Reporter on April 11th in Manhasset, NY when the Long Island Chapter of Pax Christi presented its annual “Peacemaker Award” to NCR on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. The honor cites the paper “[F]or telling painful truths, in ink, on paper and online. For reporting on nonviolence, in ways that other do not. For standing up for nuns, for abuse victims and the poor. For 50 years of prophetic words.” Mercy Sister Camille D’Arienzo, who writes a bi-monthly blog for NCR, accepted the award on behalf of Editor Dennis Coday. In remarks read by Sr. D’Arienzo, Coday noted, “The first NCR editorial against the Vietnam War came in early 1966; the editors then were prescient enough to see the futility of that war — and all others since.” Yanira Chacón-Lopez, lay minister of St. Bridget Church in Westbury, NY was also honored at the event for her work in “easing the perilous journey of immigrant families.”

PC-MA members at the first vigil at the Moakley courthouse in Boston during the Boston Marathon Bombing trial.

PC MASSACHUSETTS MEMBER PENS OP-ED REGARDING THE DEATH PENALTY IN MARATHON BOMBER CASE: (by Kathleen Schatzberg) Last week in Boston, a federal jury convicted the surviving brother of the two men who planted bombs at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon, killing three, injuring hundreds, and in the police manhunt that followed, killing a university policeman. The elder brother also died during the police pursuit. Now that same jury must decide whether to sentence the surviving brother to death or life in prison without parole. Massachusetts has not executed a convicted criminal since 1947, and a State Supreme Court ruling in 1984 effectively outlawed capital punishment in this state. This trial, however, was in federal jurisdiction, where the death penalty is allowed. A vigorous debate about capital punishment has inevitably ensued. There is no debate about the shocking heinousness of the crimes, nor about the guilt of the surviving brother who was convicted last week – his attorney admitted his guilt at the outset of the trial. But debate abounds for and against the death penalty in this case… Read the entire piece at http://www.barnstablepatriot.com/home2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38846&Itemid=32

(Photo by Zach Gibson.) Over two dozen PCUSA groups took part in Way of the Cross events from Newark, NJ to Springfield, MO to Los Angeles, CA. This photo is from the Economic Justice Way of the Cross in Washington, D.C.

PC ILLINOIS HOSTS NATIONAL STAFF FOR ANTI-RACISM PRESENTATION: (by Nancy Oetter) On March 14, 2015, West Suburban Faith-Based Peace Coalition of Illinois held their 12th Annual Gathering and Fourth Annual Rev. J. Robert Sandman Lecture Series. “Taking on the Silence: Daring to Explore the Sin of Racism” was presented by Sr. Patricia Chappell, SNDdeN, Executive Director of Pax Christi USA and Sr. Anne-Louise Nadeau, SNDdeN, Director of Programs. Pax Christi Illinois folks attended the gathering in support of the Sisters. They both have extensive experience on antiracism teams and they provide a perspective from a person of color and from a person of white privilege. They first asked the audience of 45 to tell how they felt talking about racism. They then discussed the definition of racism, and what steps we could take in our own lives to begin to defeat it. Besides Pax Christi Illinois, other groups represented were Occupy Naperville, First United Church, and Christi the Servant Parish. After the workshop, PCIL hosted Srs. Patty and Anne-Louise for dinner at the Greek Islands restaurant and had a great visit.

Posted onMarch 11, 2015|Comments Off on ON THE LINE: March 2015 edition includes Good Friday prep, Boston Marathon trial action, more!

Compiled by Johnny Zokovitch

Each month, “On The Line” features news items and announcements from around the nation featuring Pax Christi members, local groups, regions and partners.

PAX CHRISTI GROUPS ACROSS THE NATION PLANNING WAY OF THE CROSS EVENTS FOR GOOD FRIDAY: So far we’ve had about 15 groups notify us that they’re planning on staging actions of prayer and witness on Good Friday, connecting the suffering of Jesus on his way to the Cross with the suffering that so many of our sisters and brothers are experiencing today because of violence and injustice. To see if a witness is being planned near you, go to http://paxchristiusa.org/programs/lent-2015/good-friday-way-of-the-cross/. More actions are being added as the information comes in, so check back regularly.

PCUSA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ADDRESSES SOCIAL MINISTRY CONVOCATION IN BALTIMORE: (This is an excerpt from Sr. Patty Chappell’s speech.) … Intuitively Jesus knew he could not actualize this vision alone…he needed co-workers, associates, companions and disciples. He also knew that the rugged individualists who followed him had to have a stake in this vision. So he began to expose them to words, to actions, to meeting all different types of people that they had not related to before…thus making it clear that it did not matter if the people they met were beggars, lepers, sinners, tax collectors, the sick, the wealthy, or the possessed. Whatever their human condition…they were persons who were worthy of being loved, healed, liberated, and released from whatever bound them or stood in the way of their living a fully human life. His apostles and disciples, if they were to follow Jesus, had to get out of their comfort zones, their routines, their mindsets and see things in a new way… Read the entire speech at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/03/10/keynote-address-the-joy-of-the-gospel-called-to-celebrate-and-serve/

PCUSA LOSES TWO PROPHETS OF PEACE: 1. (from Nick Mele) A few months ago, Fr. Bill “Bix” Bichsel, SJ, (below right, center in photo) traveled to a village on the island of Jeju in South Korea to stand in solidarity with villagers who have been resisting construction of a naval base there; base construction has already destroyed a unique ecological and geological area and has disrupted relationships throughout the village. This past weekend, he died, several years later than a doctor had predicted. Bix never let his health stand in the way of his call to accompany oppressed people, minister to marginalized people and discomfort comfortable people… Read more of Nick’s column here: http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/03/04/obituary-farewell-to-bix-fr-bill-bichsel-sj-d-february-28-2015/

2. (from PC-Florida) Last week, Pax Christi USA heard through former staff member Phyllis Jepson that Fr. Sebastian Muccilli (below left) had passed away. Fr. Sebastian was a former associate coordinator of Pax Christi USA. I (Johnny) met Fr. Sebastian on several occasions; he was an active part of my own “home” Pax Christi, PC Florida. Fr. Sebastian was a kind, joyful man, with a beautiful smile and gentle way about him that embodied the peace of Christ in which he believed and from which he lived. All of us at Pax Christi USA mourn his passing and celebrate his life. Read his obituary posted to the PC Florida site by going here: http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/02/23/obituary-giving-thanks-for-the-life-of-fr-sebastian-muccilli-former-associate-coordinator-of-pcusa/

Fr. Sebastian Muccilli, d. February 16, 2015. Presente!

PC Pacific Northwest icon Fr. Bill Bichsel protests at Jeju Island.

PC SPOKANE (WA) INVITES MUSLIM LEADERS TO SPEAK: (from Anne Bosserman, SNJM) The Spokane PC chapter is concerned about the perception of and discrimination against our Muslim brothers and sisters world-wide and locally. Mustafa Mahmood attends Gonzaga University, Spokane. He is in his fourth year as an engineering student and is sponsored by the Iraqi Student Project. Last summer he returned to Iraq for the first time accompanying Sarah AK Ahmed. Sarah is operations director of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East. She spends a great deal of time in Northern Iraq with primarily Christian refugees. Both were invited to speak at Gonzaga University on the topic of relief and interfaith reconciliation in Iraq and proved to be excellent speakers in late January. Sarah also presented at an interfaith Washington State legislative conference in Spokane. We highly recommend Sarah as an available speaker whose message is Peace through basic human relationship.

Pax Christi Spokane (WA) members with speakers.

PC SOUTH DAKOTA MEMBER INTERVIEWED ABOUT ABOLITON OF THE DEATH PENALTY: (from PC-South Dakota) Pax Christi South Dakota has been supportive of the effort to abolish the death penalty in their state. Recently they lobbied their state officials to that end. The attempt was defeated but PC South Dakota members have helped to raise the issue and move it forward to the day when abolition occurs. Here is a link to a video that includes an interview with Sister JoAnn Sturzl, a member of Pax Christi Southeastern South Dakota (Sioux Falls, SD): http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/02/25/death-penalty-pc-south-dakota-leading-the-effort-on-abolition/

PC Texas member Jerry Maynard with Sr. Jamie Phelps, OP

WE GROW TOGETHER WORKSHOP PARTICIPANT IN TEXAS REFLECTS: (by Jerry Maynard, PC Texas) Prior to attending the workshop, I spent some time in prayer and personal reflection on what Spirit was doing in regards to this workshop, as well as, to see if the Lord had a “now” word for those attending the workshop. In my prayer, I had a deep sense that the Holy Spirit was calling, not only Pax Christi USA, but all of the Catholic Church (especially laity involved in leadership) to reground ourselves in the Gospel truth and to humble ourselves before God who has brought us a far way in the last 50+ years. We must realize as we engage the current issues of our day that we must begin to allow God’s grace to form us in understanding of how God is revealing God’s self to us… Read the entire reflection at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/02/12/news-pax-christi-texas-hosts-we-grow-together-pax-christi-usa-and-catholic-communities-of-color-workshop/

FROM THE PAX CHRISTI STORE – MARCH’S FEATURED ITEM:Our Prayers Rise Like Incense: Liturgies for Peace: Consider this resources for planning Lenten gatherings & prayer! Includes a beautiful service for Holy Thursday called: “A Table of Many Breads.” Also check out the beautiful “Good Friday” and “Way of the Cross” prayer services offered here. And as you plan ahead for Easter and Earth Day, this book offers powerful and inspiring materials for your devotions. Go to http://paxchristiusa.3dcartstores.com/

INVITATION TO ATTEND PAX CHRISTI WORLD ASSEMBLY IN BETHLEHEM IN MAY: (from PCI and Bob Cooke, PC Metro DC-Baltimore) All Pax Christi members are invited to a unique experience of attending the Pax Christi International (PCI) World Assembly in Bethlehem from the evening of May 13th to the morning of May 17th. Go to http://paxchristi2015.net/ for more information and how to register. You may also be interested in participating in a Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) Living Stones pilgrimage taking place several days before and after the World Assembly. The pilgrimage is being organized by Bob Cooke of Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore. The trip will take you to many of the places where Jesus and his disciples walked as well as providing the opportunity to meet Living Stone Christian (as well as Muslim and Jewish) peacemakers in the Holy Land and find out more about how we can help them in their march to peace and justice in our time. The deadline to register for the pilgrimage has passed but there may still be spots available. For more information, visit http://paxchristiusa.org/2014/12/11/invitation-join-pax-christi-in-the-holy-land-in-may-2015/

PC BEVERLY (MA) HOSTING PRAYER ON NONVIOLENCE DURING LENT: (from Sr. Linda Bessom, SND) PC Beverly, MA is hosting a Lenten Afternoon of Prayer on Nonviolence on March 15th, 12:30-4:30 p.m. at St. Mary Star of the Sea Convent, Beverly. Pat Ferrone, Pax Christi MA Coordinator will be our speaker addressing Pax Christi’s priority of rejecting war and preparations for war. We will also reflect on a section of PCUSA Ambassador of Peace Nancy Small’s new book: Seizing the Nonviolent Moments. For more information or to register, please contact: Karen Watkins, 978-524-0029.

PC RHODE ISLAND PRESENTS PROGRAM ON NUKES: (from Joan Crowley, PC-RI) “Vienna and the Peace & Planet Mobilization” will be presented by Pax Christi R.I. and AFSC-South Eastern New England at the St. Anthony Parish Center (1413 Mineral Spring Avenue, North Providence, RI) on Thursday, March 12, 2015 at 7:00pm to gather in support of building a nuclear free, peaceful, just, and sustainable world. The guest speaker will be Joseph Gerson, delegate to the recent Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons and author of Empire and the Bomb. For more information, please contact: Joan Crowley at 401.272.3497

Upcoming or Ongoing Events:

Mar. 13-15 – Pax Christi Metro New York’s retreat with Fr. Joachim Lally, CSP, on the theme of “Silent Prayer and Nonviolence” at St. Joseph’s Renewal Center in Brentwood, Long Island; http://www.nypaxchristi.org/events.html

In his 2015 Lenten Message, Pope Francis tells us “Lent is a time of renewal for the whole Church, for each community and every believer.” He goes on to emphasize just how much God cares for us. God loves us so much as to have sent Jesus into our world to save us from our sins.

Unfortunately, we have not always been as loving and caring. Especially when we are comfortable, we tend to become indifferent to the plight of others. Pope Francis calls this the “globalization of indifference,” and he appeals to us to use this Lent as a time for “internal renewal, lest we become indifferent and withdraw into ourselves.” To do this he recommends that we reflect on three scripture verses:

1. “If one member suffers, all suffer together” (1 Cor 12:26). Pope Francis refers this passage to the Church. He reminds us that we are all part of the Body of Christ and the communion of saints. As such we must be both recipients and givers of God’s gifts.

2. “Where is your brother?” (Gen 4:9). Here Pope Francis asks us to apply our loving concern to the real flesh and blood of our parishes and communities through prayer and outreach to those in need. His wish is that “especially our parishes and our communities may become islands of mercy in the midst of the sea of indifference.”…

Posted onFebruary 11, 2015|Comments Off on ON THE LINE: February 2015 edition features first PC group in a prison, Black History reflection, remembrances of leaders past, and more

Compiled by Johnny Zokovitch

Each month, “On The Line” features news items and announcements from around the nation featuring Pax Christi members, local groups, regions and partners.

QUICK NOTE: I’m in the process of updating our local group database. Can you look at our list of active Pax Christi chapters and make sure you see your group listed? (You can ignore this note if you’ve already checked!) Click here for more info and to see the list. Thanks!

PAX CHRISTI MASSACHUSETTS GROUP PARTNERS TO FORM GROUP WITH PRISONERS: (by Brian Ashmankus, PC Central MA) Two years ago, Pax Christi Central Massachusetts was contacted by a group of parishioners from Our Lady of Guadalupe Community in Shirley, MA who wanted to know more about Pax Christi and its vision. After an initial introduction about Pax Christi and our small group efforts, they eagerly encouraged us to come back so they might learn more and become a part of our group. This past August we began meeting regularly with them and have officially integrated them as Pax Christi Central MA/Our Lady of Guadalupe. What took so long? Our Lady of Guadalupe is located inside of the medium security prison at MCI Shirley and its members are all inmates… Read more at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/02/01/news-pax-christi-central-ma-partners-with-prisoners-for-unique-group/

Pax Christi Orange County members Alice Soto, Lucille Martin and Mike Walsh at the monthly Orange County Peace Coalition vigil at the Orange Circle in Orange, CA,

BLACK CATHOLIC HISTORY – OURS TO REMEMBER AND SHARE: (by Leslye Colvin, PC Atlanta) Cultures designate specific times to honor events and peoples significant to their history. Scripture proclaims that even within the first week of creation it was important to honor God on the seventh day. Humanity moves within the parameters of time from weeks to months to seasons, each bearing its own significance. Similarly, the liturgical calendar carries the faithful from Advent to Christmas to Ordinary Time to Lent to Easter to Pentecost to Ordinary Time and the cycle perpetually repeats throughout the universal Church. Each time gives voice to the challenges that mark a historical and transformative journey of faith. In the process, two significant occurrences develop. The history becomes ours, and we become the guardians of the legacy… Read the entire article at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/02/06/reflection-black-history-ours-to-remember-and-share/

REMEMBERING JOAN WITTREICH, PAX CHRISTI LONG ISLAND LEADER: (by Bob Keeler, PC-Long Island) The history of Pax Christi Long Island—before it even had that name—is so deeply entwined with the life and witness of Joan Wittreich that her death is an especially significant, poignant, and sad moment for our movement. So we are giving this whole issue of Peaceworks to her story. In my own mind, and in the minds of so many, Joan will always be linked with another towering peace-and-justice figure on Long Island, her friend Joop van der Grinten. As Joop grew older and driving became more of a challenge for him, Joan —or Joan and Chuck, her husband— would often drive him to meetings of the Pax Christi Long Island council and to a wide variety of peacemaking events. Joop died in 2007, at the age of 88. Joan died in August, at 81. Both deaths affected me as deeply as the passing of a close relative. Joop was a father figure to me and to many in the movement, a great white-maned lion of peace. And Joan was like a wise and treasured older sister, a great red-maned lioness of peace… Read more at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/01/27/reflection-remembering-joan-wittreich-brave-and-constant-early-leader-of-pax-christi-long-island/

PC Southeastern South Dakota members Candace Grant and Mary Ann Garrigan witness against police brutality in front of the Federal Building on December 11, 2014.

Carol Ann and Lee Breyer

LIFE OF PAX CHRISTI FLORIDA LEADER MIRRORS THE LIVES OF MANY IN OUR MOVEMENT: (by Johnny Zokovitch, PCUSA) In September of this past year, Pax Christi USA lost one of our most spirited long-time leaders. Carol Ann Breyer passed away in her sleep at a motel, on the way to a retreat with long-time friends associated with the Sisters of Mercy, with whom she had spent a significant part of her life. Carol Ann has been with Pax Christi USA a very long time, from her time living in and around Washington, D.C. to later life when she was the state coordinator for Pax Christi Florida, one of the regions of PCUSA. I had first gotten to know Carol Ann and her husband Lee while a young man in my early twenties. I was new to Pax Christi, and in attending the retreats and conferences with the section in Florida, I found myself surrounded with opportunities to be mentored and taught by people who had marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., been arrested at actions protesting our nation’s nuclear weapons with Fr. Daniel Berrigan, worked alongside Dorothy Day in Catholic Worker soup kitchens, and practiced lifestyles rooted in gospel nonviolence for decades. Carol Ann was one of these people who broadened my own understanding of what it meant to follow Jesus and how to live one’s life as a witness to the peace and justice for which he had lived, died and rose… Read the article at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/02/10/reflection-one-life-mirrors-the-lives-of-many-trying-to-bring-peace-with-justice-to-our-world/

PAX CHRISTI ATLANTA LEADER REFLECTS ON NONVIOLENCE: (by Joe Goode, PC St. Jude) Nonviolence is a subject that has been very important to me over the last 30 years or so. I think the seeds leading to my conviction that nonviolence is the path I want to follow were planted in preparing lesson plans for fifth-grade CCD at St. Jude Church. I began reading the New Testament in earnest for the first time. Years later, following a parish retreat and a Cursillo weekend, I came to an epiphany moment that there is no justification for violence based on the life and teachings of Jesus. In 1985 I made an entry in a logbook I kept at my office that I no longer believed that violence of any kind could be justified. I have never retreated from that position… Read more at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/01/25/reflection-atlanta-pc-member-reflects-on-nonviolence-for-social-change/

INVITATION TO ATTEND PAX CHRISTI WORLD ASSEMBLY IN BETHLEHEM IN MAY: (from PCI and Bob Cooke, PC Metro DC-Baltimore) All Pax Christi members are invited to a unique experience of attending the Pax Christi International (PCI) World Assembly in Bethlehem from the evening of May 13th to the morning of May 17th. Go to http://paxchristi2015.net/ for more information and how to register. You may also be interested in participating in a Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) Living Stones pilgrimage taking place several days before and after the World Assembly. The pilgrimage is being organized by Bob Cooke of Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore. The trip will take you to many of the places where Jesus and his disciples walked as well as providing the opportunity to meet Living Stone Christian (as well as Muslim and Jewish) peacemakers in the Holy Land and find out more about how we can help them in their march to peace and justice in our time. The deadline to register for the pilgrimage has passed but there may still be spots available. For more information, visit http://paxchristiusa.org/2014/12/11/invitation-join-pax-christi-in-the-holy-land-in-may-2015/

Posted onJanuary 14, 2015|Comments Off on ON THE LINE: January 2015 edition highlights the old of 2014 and the new of 2015

Compiled by Johnny Zokovitch

Each month, “On The Line” features news items and announcements from around the nation featuring Pax Christi members, local groups, regions and partners.

PHOTOS FROM THROUGHOUT 2014: Sometimes, it is best just to let the pictures do the talking. Click here to see about 50 photos of some of the events and actions which Pax Christi USA members across the nation took part in, as well as some of the moments that shaped our work in 2014.

PAX CHRISTI SOUTH DAKOTA HOSTS 20TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE: In September, Pax Christi South Dakota members, led by the Presentation Sisters, hosted their 20th annual conference in Watertown. The theme was “Human Trafficking: Modern Day Slavery,” with speakers Sr. Ruthmary Powers, HM and Sr. Josie Chrosniak, HM, current National Chair of Pax Christi USA. Other presentations which also part of the program, including a presentation on the Sexual Exploitation of American Indian Women and Girls. Click through the slideshow below to see a few photos from the event.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

PAX CHRISTI MEMBERS WILL PARTICIPATE TO PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND: All Pax Christi members are invited to a unique experience of attending the Pax Christi International (PCI) World Assembly in Bethlehem from the evening of May 13th to the morning of May 17th in Bethlehem, while also participating in a Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) Living Stones pilgrimage taking place several days before and after the World Assembly. The pilgrimage is being organized by Bob Cooke of Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore. The trip will take you to many of the places where Jesus and his disciples walked as well as providing the opportunity to meet Living Stone Christian (as well as Muslim and Jewish) peacemakers in the Holy Land and find out more about how we can help them in their march to peace and justice in our time. Deadline to register is January 25. For more information, visit http://paxchristiusa.org/2014/12/11/invitation-join-pax-christi-in-the-holy-land-in-may-2015/

PC SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PETITION PHARMACISTS CONVENTION:Alice Soto and Mike Walsh of Pax Christi Southern California joined members of Death Penalty Focus of Orange County at a vigil at the American Society for Health-Systems Pharmacists to encourage them to join other pharmacists oppposed to participation in executions. The vigil hand-out stated, in part, “Participation in executions undermines the position of trust that pharmacists enjoy in this nation. A handful of pharmacists are bringing the entire pharmaceutical profession into disrepute by using their training and tools to kill their patients without their consent. Pharmacists as individuals are free to agree with or dissent from executions as public policy, but they must not participate in this process as medical professionals who have sworn an oath to protect life.”

Mike Walsh & Alice Soto of PC-So. California at the American Pharmacists convention.

ED GUINAN, FIRST GENERAL SECRETRAY OF PCUSA, PASSES AWAY: This morning, I learned that Ed Guinan, Pax Christi USA’s first General Secretary in 1972, had passed away over the holiday. PCUSA Ambassador of Peace Janice Vanderhaar had written to share the news. I never met Ed personally, but had heard stories of him and his commitment to peace with justice, especially his work in starting the Community for Creative Nonviolence. For Pax Christi USA, Ed organized the first national assembly in 1973, and he published the first PCUSA magazine, “Pax Christi Thirdly” (it would appear three times a year) that same year… Read more here: http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/01/05/obituary-ed-guinan-first-general-secretary-of-pax-christi-usa-passed-away-on-dec-26/